Another beautiful day dawns as we go about our normal morning routine.  Once again, we have a ship’s tour – today we are going to the Drach Caves – or dragon caves (so called because the shape of the caves is like the shape of a dragon).

The drive to the caves takes over an hour, through flat farmland (with that one mountain out in the distance), past the massive Rafa Nadal tennis Academy (he is from Manacor, Palma de Mallorca where the center is located) and finally to the caves.

All during the drive, our guide was giving us all sorts of great information on caves in general – how they were formed, how water and minerals create stalactites and stalagmites – then delves into Mallorca caves specifically:  there are 5 caves that can be visited on the island, around 2,000 caves still to discover (he says the underground here is like Swiss cheese, filled with holes!); there is a cave called the Caves of the Catalon because a Catalonian came to the island in the 1800s, demanded to visit a cave and subsequently got lost. He was eventually rescued, but still!  The Drach caves have been in existence for thousands of years, with the first mention of the complex in the 1300s.  Exploration in the late 1800s uncovered the passageway through to Lake Martel with further exploration in the 1920s finalizing the topography maps.  We learn there how each feature was named and what to expect to see – The bath of Diana (the first lake); the Flag (the first stalactite structure), the Blue Channel (looks like a destroyed castle), the Snowy Mountain and so on.  Way too much for us to remember!

Finally at the caves, we head to the entry line, eventually starting our descent down into the almost 1-mile long caves.  Even with all the crowds, it is an incredible experience.  So many gorgeous views – we will let you just scroll through the photos to see for yourself!

The river that runs through the entire cave is simply stunning – pooling into lakes here and there, reflecting different colors.  Just an overall gorgeous walk through the underground.

About three-quarters of the way through, the cave opens up into a huge cavern at Lake Martel with auditorium seating.  Here we have a 10 minute classical concert with a pianist, violinist and sax player in a boat sailing around the lake here in the cavern!  Totally amazing!  Unfortunately, no photos or videos were allowed – and they were serious about it with “guards” standing around everywhere, scanning the crowd, then running up to people who were trying to take photos and scolding them!  We had great seats too (but we weren’t breaking the rules!), low and at the left of the auditorium (as our guide instructed us to do) – and good thing too, because we were then in the perfect location to hop on one of the boats to sail out of the cavern.  Sweet!  

Another 10 minute walk, maybe, through more incredible stalactites and stalagmites, and we are finished with our explorations, back up above ground in the lovely cool and dry air.

Returning to the bus, we take a different route back to Palma, passing tons and tons of windmills on the way.  Our guide tells us that Mallorca has more windmills per square meters than any other European country, clocking in at roughly 3,000 windmills on this relatively little island.  Hey, we saw a vast proportion of them during our hourlong ride back to the port.

We also passed the Mallorca Cathedral with the opportunity for some great photos – up close and then from afar, across the marina from the ship once back aboard.  Lovely day.

Unfortunately, though, the timing of this tour (as many of them seem to be) is the worst when it comes to eating.  The tour left late and returned a little after 2p, with no opportunity for lunch outside.  We raced upstairs to the Patio for some light snacks – but it was really late for us – and messes with our dinner scheduling.  Really stinks – and more and more of these tours are scheduled in the same manner.  Sigh.

After our rushed “snacky” lunch, we hit the gym, then have pre-dinner cocktails on the balcony watching the gorgeous lights of Mallorca.  Later, it was off to dinner at Prime C, where we ate light due to our late lunch! Suraj, our sweet waiter whom we’ve sailed with multiple times, told me my goat cheese tartlet (that I get as my main every night) is off the menu next cruise!  He’s a hoot!

Nothing else on the schedule this evening as we aren’t interested in the guest performer, so it is off to the Living Room with Vibz, then back to the balcony for the rest of the evening.